City board condemns two historic district properties
The Hot Springs Board of Directors condemned two structures that contributed to the historic character of the Pleasant Street Historic District Tuesday, including a Gulpha Street property where several fires had occurred.
“This was the third fire at this structure,” Planning and Development Director Kathy Sellman said of last May’s fire at 134 Gulpha St. “It’s very sad.”
The board adopted the condemnation resolution after the city used its emergency authority under the property maintenance code to demolish the vacant single-family home earlier this month. According to the request for after-the-fact condemnation, the structure imperiled public health and safety and was being used by vagrants.
Fire Chief Ed Davis said homeless people appear to have been the cause of fires in and around the historic district.
“It does appear that more than likely the fires that occurred in that area were due to trespassers, homeless people,” he said at Wednesday’s Civil Service Commission meeting. “It does not show the earmarks of an insurance fraud fire.
“I don’t know if it was arson, because I don’t know the intent of the person. I know we have had a lot of problems with homeless people staying in those abandoned buildings. Property owners do have a fiduciary duty to their neighbors to keep folks out of those buildings. Many times they don’t do it.”
The city used its emergency authority to demolish the vacant duplex at 309 and 311 Garden St. in March. During demolition, the city learned the owners to whom it had sent the notice of condemnation had sold the property weeks prior
to the March 24 issuance of the demolition permit.
The city said it double-checked property tax records after the new owner asked why his house was being torn down, but the tax rolls didn’t show the change of ownership.
“I want to emphasize that every step that had to be taken was taken,” Sellman told the board. “It was taken in the right order. It was timely. As of the day we removed the structure the of record owner showed to be the owners who we notified.”
The deed conveying the property was recorded March 10, according to real estate records.
District 1 Director Erin Holliday asked why the condemnation was brought to the board after the duplex had been torn down.
“This doesn’t look very different from a lot of structures that we vote on for condemnation,” she said. “Why did it go down in advance of us voting? We’ve seen condemnations since the middle of March. Why is it now versus weeks ago?”
City Attorney Brian Albright said the city wanted to give the new owner a chance to appear at Tuesday’s board meeting. He was not in attendance.
Sellman said the previous owners live in Colorado. The city has spent years trying to get them to comply with the property maintenance code, she said, but the duplex’s state of disrepair has persisted. According to the request for condemnation, the structure posed an imminent threat to the neighborhood.
“We’re very sorry we’re getting to this point with structures in our historic district, but here we are,” Sellman told the board.
According to the zoning code, the district was formed in 2005. It runs east of upper Malvern Avenue, from Kirk to Church streets. Property owners have to petition the city’s Historic District Commission before they can make changes to the exterior of their properties.
In July, during the board’s 2022 goal setting session, city officials told the board the neighborhood’s historic designation has become an impediment to its redevelopment.